President Hoover believed in a ____ approach to government.

President Herbert Hoover advocated for a "hands-off" or laissez-faire approach to the economy, believing that direct government intervention would damage American self-reliance. He championed "rugged individualism" and believed that private charities and local governments, rather than the federal government, should handle relief. This contrasted sharply with the "hands-on" approach later adopted by Franklin D. Roosevelt.